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Shoppers Drug Mart gets medical pot license from Health Canada

The logo for Shoppers Drug Mart is shown in downtown Toronto, on Tuesday, May 24, 2016. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Eduardo Lima)

The Canadian Press
Published Friday, September 21, 2018 5:33PM EDT

TORONTO -- Shoppers Drug Mart has received Health Canada's approval to be a licensed medical marijuana producer, opening the door for the pharmacy giant to dispense medical cannabis to patients.

This comes after Shoppers in October 2016 applied to Health Canada to become a licensed medical marijuana producer.

Under the current Health Canada regulations for medical pot, the only legal distribution method is by mail order from licensed producers direct to patients.

In addition to a license to produce, a cannabis sales license from Health Canada is also required to dispense medical marijuana.

A Shoppers spokeswoman says the approval to be a licensed producer is the "first step" in its journey to providing medical cannabis to its patients, and it will share more information about its plans in the coming weeks.